Food Dialogues Event Hosted by USFRA

Interactive town-hall discussions and agriculture and food taking place across the country.

Sep 21, 2011

Today, the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance will host The Food Dialogues, a series of town hall-style discussions taking place at four locations across the nation and online. Claire Shipman of ABC's "Good Morning America" will be the emcee. Panel moderators at the four locations will be Max Armstrong of Farm Progress Companies in Fair Oaks, Ind., chef John Besh in New York City, Jane Wells of CNBC at University of California Davis, and Phil Lempert in Washington, D.C.

The Food Dialogues will hold four panel discussions, featuring leaders in food, food service, media and policy, farmers of all types and business leaders, who will share different viewpoints about the current and future states of food, and how food is grown and raised. These topics, as well as findings from recent surveys of farmers, ranchers and consumers conducted by USFRA, will all be discussed during this interactive event.

"Americans want to know where their food comes from, how it was raised and if it is good for their health long-term," said Bob Stallman, chairman of USFRA and president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. "We realize farmers and ranchers haven't always done the best job answering Americans' questions about how food is grown and raised, and hope The Food Dialogues event will be the start of an ongoing dialogue that addresses these questions and more."

These discussions will take place at four locations as well as being streamed online via Facebook and USFRA's new website www.fooddialogues.com.

The panel in Fair Oaks, Ind. will discuss "The Voice of Farmers and Ranchers" focusing on farmer and rancher values and choices, and how consumer reaction guides choices. The Washington, D.C. panel will focus on macro issues such as feeding our growing population while maintaining high standards for safety, quality and an abundant supply to ensure low food prices. The California panel will review sustainable practices in farming and ranching, and The New York panel will focus on retaining consumer choices in what they eat and what they pay.

The event will begin at 12 p.m Eastern Time. Check back here throughout the day as we will have continuing coverage of The Food Dialogues. To view an agenda of the event, click HERE.